Killer Dies In Shoot-out With Police

MIAMI -- The man who police said shot his wife and killed her friend in Davie three days ago was killed on Thursday night in a shoot-out with Miami police.

Davie police, working on a tip that Un Ok Hong frequented a Miami neighborhood, had been working with Miami detectives to try to find him.

During the investigation, police said they learned that Hong, 45, called several people and threatened to kill them. He told friends he was going to kill his wife then kill himself, Davie police said. He did not say why.

Davie police said they considered Hong desperate and dangerous and warned Miami detectives.

Hollywood police spokesman Jim Rabbitt said a police guard was posted at Mi Ja Hong`s hospital room on Thursday after police learned of the threat. She was in satisfactory condition with a bullet wound to the face.

Two police officers, with guns drawn, walked up to Hong`s car at a traffic light and ordered him out of the car.

Hong turned to the officers and pointed a .25-caliber handgun at them and the officers began shooting, Schlefstein said. Hong did not fire his gun.

Of the seven shots fired, five hit the car but none struck Hong, he said. Hong sped away.

Police lost sight of Hong, but found him again at Northeast 20th Terrace and Bayshore Drive, near the Central Baptist Church, Schlefstein said.

``We saw him ditch the car and we set up a perimeter,`` he said.

Officers received help from the Special Weapons and Tactics Team, a helicopter and the Metro-Dade K-9 unit, he said.

``The K-9 was closing in and all of a sudden he leaps out of some bushes in an alleyway at Biscayne Boulevard and Bayshore Drive with the same gun,`` Schlefstein said. ``Then he fires three to four shots at the SWAT team with the K-9 unit. At that point SWAT returned fire and he was subsequently killed.``

None of the officers was injured, he said.

Police issued an arrest warrant for Hong on Tuesday after his wife was shot in the mouth and her co-worker, Hong Soo Kim, was shot in the head. Kim died of his wounds.

Hong was waiting in a parking lot at the Conquistador Apartments, 7400 Stirling Road, when his wife and Kim were leaving for work on Monday morning, police said.

Kim`s daughter, Sang Im Kim, said Hong thought his wife and Kim were having an affair.

She said her father only offered the woman a place to sleep until her divorce was final.

Sang Im Kim said she and Mi Ja Hong shared a bedroom while living at the Davie apartment complex with her father and 13-year-old brother.

Kim and Mi Ja Hong met while working in the janitorial department at Delta Airlines. She had been staying at the apartment since May.

The Kim family moved to the United States about a year ago. With their father gone, Sang Im Kim said she didn`t know what they would do. Their mother is expected to arrive next month, she said.